1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to devices for removal of nail polish and similar coatings from the nails and particularly to devices containing an apertured absorbent member wetted with a liquid nail polish removal solvent for receiving at least one finger into contact with the absorbent member to remove polish from the nail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The coating of the nails for decorative and protective purposes has long been practiced, such coatings typically being applied as liquids which rapidly dry to form a solid coating on the nail. Presently available nail coatings are generally known as nail "polish" and have reached a state of development whereby the polish coating can be rapidly applied by means of a brush or similar implement and which rapidly dry to form a durable covering for the nail. Even though presently available nail polish coatings are durable as well as decorative, these coatings remain subject to chipping, peeling or similar marring after a certain period of use and must be removed for application of a fresh coating of polish when damage to the coating occurs. Nail polish is also removed even though not damaged in order to match nail polish color to a wardrobe change or to a change in personal mood. For these reasons, it becomes necessary for a user of nail polish to remove polish to allow application of a fresh polish coating as frequently as one or more times daily and almost invariably on the order of two to three times weekly. The most commonly used method for removing nail polish involves the relatively time consuming and messy practice of soaking a cotton pad or tissue with a liquid nail polish removal solvent, this solvent typically being available in a pre-packaged bottle such as is commonly marketed at retail. According to this commonly used prior practice, nail polish is removed from each nail individually by contacting the wetted piece of absorbent material with the coated nail until the polish coating softens and at least partially dissolves. The wetted material is also moved over the nail to mechanically assist in the dissolution and removal of the polish from the nail. Accordingly, it can be seen that this prior practice involves a substantial amount of time and, due to the necessity for wetting an absorbent piece of material with a liquid contained within a bottle, the liquid solvent is subject to spillage with attendant risk of soiling clothing, furnishings and the like. The prior practice further involves a certain degree of messiness which can prove objectionable due to the fact that wet absorbent material must be handled and dissolved nail polish can be smeared upon the hands and fingers as well as on clothing and furnishings unless diligence is exercised to prevent such occurrences.
The desirability of providing an improved method for removal of nail polish from the nails has long been recognized in the art as is clearly shown by the nail polish removal devices disclosed by Roosa and Merrit, respectively, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,524,681 and 2,629,124. According to the disclosures of these patents, receptacles having a supply of liquid nail polish removal solvent contained therein are fitted with brush-like elements disposed adjacent to or within the body of the liquid solvent. A user of a device such as is disclosed by Roosa or Merrit inserts each finger individually into the receptacle through a closable opening to contact the polish-bearing nail with the liquid solvent in order to soften or dissolve the polish, the brush-like element being used to mechanically abrade the softened polish coating for more rapid loosening thereof. While devices such as those disclosed by Roosa and Merrit do serve to facilitate removal of nail polish from the nails, certain objections to the use of these devices exist. In particular, a free-standing body of liquid solvent is contained within these devices and is subject to spillage or splatter. Further, the body of liquid solvent becomes rapidly colored and otherwise contaminated with polish after only a few uses, thereby rendering the devices less attractive to a user. Users of such devices often object to the pricking of the skin caused by the bristles of the bursh-like element contained within these devices. For reasons such as those noted, devices such as those disclosed by Roosa and Merrit have not come into general use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,961,682 to Wurmbock et al is exemplary of the further development of manicuring devices intended for personal use in the removal of polish and other coatings from the nails. As disclosed by Wurmbock et al an absorbent member saturated with nail polish remover is held within a container having a closable opening, the absorbent member being provided with a finger-receiving aperture into which at least the distal phalanx of each finger is received one at a time. The coated nail on each finger is thus brought into contact with the polish removing solvent carried by the absorbent member, the solvent acting to soften or dissolve the polish coating from the nail. Mechanical abrasion provided by the absorbent member facilitates removal of polish from the nail. Duseppe, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,891, provides a nail polish removal device which is essentially identical in structure and method of use to the device of Wurmbock et al. Duseppe utilizes a foam-like plastic material of fine, high density cellular structure as the absorbent member and which is substantially identical in function to the absorbent member of Wurmbock et al. The devices of both Wurmbock et al and Duseppe provide finger-receiving apertures in their respective absorbent members which extend only partially through the absorbent members. The devices of Wurmbock et al and Duseppe are also utilized by practice of an identical method of use, that is, by insertion of each finger into the finger-receiving aperture of the absorbent members to remove polish from each nail. The devices of Roosa and Merrit described above are also utilized by a substantially identical method of use. While nail polish removal devices such as are disclosed by Wurmbock et al and Duseppe provide improvement over the devices of Roosa and Merrit, it is to be noted that a certain degree of use of the Wurmbock et al and Duseppe devices results in a coloring of the liquid solvent contained within the receptacle which holds the absorbent member. While the liquid solvent retains its polish removal capabilities well beyond that point at which the liquid solvent becomes colored, a user of such a device begins to view the device as being contaminated and typically prefers to discard the device prior to the end of the useful life of the device. The actual useful lifetime of such devices are therefore considerably foreshortened unnecessarily due to this "contamination" caused by the accumulation of dissolved polish within the device. In the devices of Wurmbock et al and Duseppe, as well as in those similar nail polish removal devices presently marketed, the user of the device is unable to remove the absorbent member from the receptacle for cleaning since such removal results in the loss of all of the liquid solvent within the receptacle, there being no self-contained capability provided with such devices for replenishment of liquid solvent to the device.
The present invention provides self-contained structure including structure useful in the manner of a fingernail polish removal device and which is provided with a substantially integral supply container which enables the recharging of the nail polish removal device with fresh liquid solvent as is necessary according to use of the device. The present invention thus provides to a user the temporal and handling advantages characteristic of presently available fingernail polish removal devices and further provides the capability of replenishing used liquid solvent, thereby extending the useful life of a nail polish removal device. Substantial advantages over the prior art are thus provided by the present invention, these advantages being of a nature not foreseen in the long history of the search for improvement in the manner by which nail coatings are removed from the nails.